Easter weekend trip

[ishtar]

Ishtar and Cobby girl headed off into the rain and wind on Friday morning, on this hastily arranged trip. Swansea was our tentative plan, with the English coast as backup if the wind was too much against us. Louise took her turn at the helm - I didn't see the point in getting two sets of gear soaking wet.....

[ishtar]

After a couple of hours the wind eased, rain stopped and teh sun burned brightly. A lovely sail down the outside of the Nash sand banks and Scars. Allan took Cobby Girl inside the latter and we met up again on the run in to Swansea:



Louise navigated and handled the locks. It's only a few short weeks since she did her first lock, and now she helms Ishtar so much better than I do under power:

[ishtar]

We signed in with Swansea marina. After the initial confusion as to which boat belonged to which couple, Allan and Edwina tied Cobby girl up beside Ishtar. We opened the beers and Lilly (name now spelled correctly) headed off into the town to cause some Friday night havoc amongst the revellers.....



A lovely long keeler shot into the marina, both Allan and I were thinking how well her skipper handled her. He then proceeded to smash her back and fore into the pontoons for the next 10 minutes: We tried to help, but her crew only seemed to have 3 metres of string as mooring ropes. After almost dunking myself and Allan into the drink, she lay tied up, with a Rocna anchor worth more than our boat on her stem.

[ishtar]

A stunningly beautiful Saturday morning dawned after some curries aboard Ishtar the night before. We took Tigger to the beach before departing.



Quite tight in the locks - we were not used to the slow procedure of waiting to be called and told where to tie, but Louise did her job to perfection. Allan took Cobby girl ahead, with Mumbles in the background.

[ishtar]

A lovely sail to the English coast followed. A long lazy atlantic swell coming from the South West and easy sailing. My friend, the beer monkey, suggested that if we cut across to Porlock, we could maybe try a real ale or two before our evening meal. I radioed allan, who suggested that the beer monkey was a master passage planner.



We anchored around 18:30 (three attempts for me) and Allan ferried ourselves, Tigger, Edwina and Lilly ashore. A couple of nice Ales before we returned to Cobby Girl.



Allan cooked ravioli, with tomato and basil sauce, and a couple of Boddingtons (the ladies had wine). He insisted on performing a strange West country dance, which involved dancing on deck in his underpants before and after the meal. He tried to explain it by suggesting his trousers were wet from the dinghy ride, but I think he just did it because he wanted to.

[ishtar]

A long, slow easy sail back to Cardiff after a leisurely start and we locked in at 19:15. We had to make a run for it as Louise was on night shift, but another cracking weekend - looking forward to many more like this if the weather is kind this summer.

[snacko]

Just read your blog re easter w/end, felt as if I was with you. Do you ALWAYS get a soaking every time you are rowed ashore or is it Allen's poor rowing skills, also does he not have a pair of waterproof leggings or does he need to prance around decks in his skid marked underpants.........the mind boggles, its no wonder Louise is always rushing off to work! Great photos of Swansea etc.

[snacko]

Just a thought.......Will we have a photos of Louise Bikini clad in the Summer instead of all the winter clobber she always seems to be posing in.......Now there a thought.

[Matt]

Impressive sail, looks like your really finding your sea legs! Very lucky with the weather for a change.

Nice one guys.

[Viv]

Super photos and account (again) of your weekend Martin. Feeling so jealous that we couldn't join you. Having to go to work and wanting to sail just don't go together!

[ishtar]

Snacko - It isn't just Allan. Vince has also come a cropper in the treacherous swells off Porlock. Now, Louise and I have not taken our dinghy ashore yet, so I'd best be careful what I say.

Bikini-clad, eh? I'm sure she will read that with a smile, although it does tend to be a diving suit in the summer. Rubber suit ok?

Sunbeam - yes, I have to admit we've been very lucky. It's the memories of two consecutive truly awful summers that spur us on. I'd hate to wait until June and then the rain and wind start again.....

Shevin - work, ah yes, I remember that. Luckily, or unluckily as time may show, I have done an awful lot of work for Honda and related companies. With them being closed for four months, I have very little to do. In fairness, this time last year I was working 18 hour days for weeks on end. I'm glad to be out of that, but a bit more work would be nice.

[Viv]

Be careful what you say Martin about rubber suits! There could well be some very imaginative minds reading this! You might be sending the blood pressure of vulnerable readers up! (Not me of course!)
Sheila

[allan]

We too had a great time, thanks for not mentioning the cock-up I made of Swansea lock or the fact that I messed up my anchor position and hit England at two in the morning! Yesterdays sail to Bristol was great too. the sail back was disappointing by recent standards but finding the large text on my chartplotter will make up for that.

[ishtar]

Bristol report and pictures when I get a chance.......